Croatian kuna


The kuna is the currency of Croatia, in use since 1994. It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute. The plural form of the kuna in Croatian is kune.
The word means "marten" in Croatian, referring to the historical use of marten pelts as units of value in medieval trading. The word lipa means "linden tree", a species that was traditionally planted around marketplaces in Croatia and other lands under Habsburg Monarchy during the early modern period.

History and etymology

During Roman times, in the provinces of upper and lower Pannonia, taxes were collected in the then highly valued marten skins. Hence the Croatian word marturina, which derived from the Medieval Latin word for "marten" martus, which came from Proto-Germanic *marþuz through Old Dutch and Old French. The kuna was a currency unit in several Slavic states, most notably Kievan Rus and its successors until the early 15th century. It was equal to gryvna of silver. The plural form of kuna in the Croatian language is "kune".
It has no relation to the various Slavic currencies named "koruna" which means "crown".
In the Middle Ages, many foreign monies were used in Croatia, but since at least 1018 a local currency was in use. Between 1260 and 1380, Croatian Viceroys issued a marten-adorned silver coin called the banovac. However, the diminishing autonomy of Croatia within the Croatian-Hungarian Kingdom led to the gradual disappearance of that currency in the 14th century.
The idea of a kuna currency reappeared in 1939 when Banovina of Croatia, an autonomous province established within Kingdom of Yugoslavia, planned to issue its own money, along with the Yugoslav dinar. In 1941, when the Ustaše regime formed the Independent State of Croatia, they introduced the Independent State of Croatia kuna. This currency remained in circulation until 1945, when it – along with competing issues by the communist Partisans – disappeared with the establishment of FPR Yugoslavia and was replaced by the Yugoslav dinar.

Modern currency

The modern kuna was introduced on May 30, 1994, starting a period of transition from the Croatian dinar, introduced in 1991, which ended on December 31, 1994. One kuna was equivalent to 1000 dinars at a fixed exchange rate. The kuna was pegged to the German mark from the start. With the replacement of the mark by the euro, the kuna's peg effectively switched to the euro.
The choice of the name kuna was controversial because the same currency name had been used by the Independent State of Croatia kuna, but this was dismissed as a red herring, since the same name was also in use during the Banovina of Croatia and by the ZAVNOH. An alternative proposal for the name of the new currency was kruna, divided into 100 banica, but this was deemed too similar to the Austro-Hungarian krone and found inappropriate for the country which is a republic, even though the Czech Republic and, until 2008, Slovakia have used currencies called "crown".
The self-proclaimed Serbian entity Republic of Serbian Krajina did not use the kuna or the Croatian dinar. Instead, they issued their own Krajina dinar until the region was reintegrated into Croatia in 1995.
A long-time policy of the Croatian National Bank has been to keep the fluctuations of the kuna's exchange rate against the euro within a relatively stable range. Since the introduction of the euro in 1999, the exchange rate between the two currencies rarely fluctuated to a substantial degree, remaining at a near constant 7.5:1 rate. Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013 and the Exchange Rate Mechanism on 10 July 2020 at a rate of 7.53450 HRK to €1. The kuna is expected to be replaced by the euro, even though the initial time estimate of standard four years after joining the European Union proved too short.

Coins

In 1994, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 lipa, 1, 2, 5 and 25 kuna. The coins are issued in two versions: one with the name of the plant or animal in Croatian, the other with the name in Latin. Overall more coins have been minted with Croatian names than with names in Latin.
Due to their low value, 1 and 2 lipa coins are rarely used. Since 2009, these coins are no longer minted, but the Croatian National Bank has stated that it had no plans for withdrawing them, and the 1 and 2 lipa coins are still minted as non-circulating.

Commemorative coins

Commemorative coins of the Croatian kuna have been issued since 1994.
DenominationObverse Design
1 lipaMaize with inscriptions FAO, 1945, 1995 and fiat panis
2 lipeEmblem of the Croatian Olympic Committee with inscriptions 1996, Atlanta and Olimpijske igre
5 lipaEmblem of the Croatian Olympic Committee with inscriptions 1996, Atlanta and Olimpijske igre
10 lipaEmblem of the United Nations with inscriptions Organizacija ujedinjenih naroda, 1945, and 1995
20 lipaOlive with inscriptions FAO, 1945, 1995 and fiat panis
50 lipaEmblem of the Croatian Football Federation with inscriptions Europsko nogometno prvenstvo, Engleska, and 1996
1 kunaEmblem of the Croatian Olympic Committee with inscriptions 1996, Atlanta and Olimpijske igre
2 kuneTuna with inscriptions FAO, 1945, 1995 and fiat panis
5 kunaImages commemorating the 500th anniversary of the printing of the Breviary of Senj in 1494
25 kuna28 May 1997 commemorating the peaceful reintegration of the Srem-Baranja Oblast in Croatia
25 kuna24 June 1997 commemorating the Esperantist congress
25 kuna27 October 1997 commemorating the accession of Croatia to the United Nations
25 kuna26 June 1998 commemorating the EXPO in Lisbon
25 kuna29 December 1999 commemorating the introduction of the euro in EU
25 kuna27 November 2000 commemorating the year 2000.
25 kuna15 January 2002 commemorating the 10th anniversary of the international recognition of independence of Croatia
25 kuna4 August 2005 commemorating the candidacy of Croatia for accession to the EU
25 kuna12 May 2010 commemorating yearly meeting of EBRD in Zagreb
25 kuna3 December 2012 commemorating the Accession treaty of Croatia to the EU
25 kuna1 July 2013 commemorating the accession of Croatia to the EU
25 kuna7 October 2016 commemorating the 25th anniversary of the independence of Croatia
25 kuna22 May 2017 commemorating the 25th anniversary of the accession of Croatia to the United Nations
25 kuna30 May 2019 commemorating the 25th anniversary of the introduction and issuance of the kuna
25 kuna2019 commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Founding of the University of Zagreb

Banknotes

The notes were designed by Miroslav Šutej and Vilko Žiljak, and all feature prominent Croatians on front and architectural motifs on back. The geometric figures at lower left on front are intaglio printed for recognition by the blind people. To the right of the coat of arms on front is a microprinted version of the Croatian national anthem, Lijepa naša domovino. The overall design is reminiscent of Deutsche Mark banknotes of the fourth series.
The first series of notes was dated 31 October 1993. The 5, 10 and 20 kuna notes from this series were withdrawn on 1 April 2007, and the 50, 100 and 200 kuna notes were withdrawn on 1 January 2010, but remain exchangeable at the HNB in Zagreb.
New series of notes with similar designs but improved security features were released in 2001, 2004, 2012 and 2014.

Exchange rates